An update! Don't keel over in surprise!

Here is our darling Mira this past Saturday evening. She loves her crinkle tunnel and will chase the other bigger kitties out when she sees them try and enter it. I know it's been quite a while since I've posted. I have no excuse other than life got in the way. Mira has been sick and gotten better many times in the last few months. She's still not to three pounds, but is growing. Just.... not like other kitties. She'll never be big. As a matter of fact I'll be surprised if she ever makes it to five pounds, right now she is 2.78 pounds. She had to visit the vet again today. An inner ear issue began a month ago and is still not resolved. It could be anything from a strong infection to an autoimmune issue to toxicity build-up from all the. Eds she's been on. The vet says kitty livers aren't as efficient as human or even canine livers. However, the heart murmur thought to have occurred either from an infection or developed as she's grown has now disappeared. Meaning it was most probably caused by her last infection. Right now her balance is affected and she is tilting her head to the side when she walks. As the vet said today when someone observing asked why she was tilting her head. "She thinks the floor is ->." The techs all think she's adorable and made mention that her new head tilting looking like something from the Exorcist. Considering she will, at times, tilt her head all the way upside down when she's meowing at us to feed her (we are, after all, here to do her bidding) I can see their point. Anyway, she's on a new antibiotic and also a week long dose of prednisone. (The last time she was on that she ate what seemed like nonstop!) 

I'm still working at my holiday job. I'm thinking they may have decided to keep me, but are hoping I won't notice and will keep,showing up. :)  I will. I like getting out of the house a bit, but miss some of my Y classes on the nights I have to work. I've also missed a couple Boy Scout events that Son was involved in due to the job and feel very guilty about it. 

The pinched nerve (ulnar nerve) in my elbow is still bothering me. I don't know if surgery is in my future or not, but am hoping not. I want to try a couple alternative things first (with my Docs approval). Well, my NEW Doc, anyway. I'll meet her for the first time next week. Cross your fingers this one works out because the last one was rather....... off putting and cold. 

That's about it. The kids are well. We are taking a break from karate because their teacher pulled a couple shady things in respect to daughter teaching and we'd had enough. Disrespect my child and that's it. We are in the process of trying to find a new dojo for the style they practice. 

I hope y'all are all well. I wish the best of all possible things for each of you. Goodnight, B.

A small Mira Update.

Just a small Mira update. She has gained weight- she now weighs 1.90lbs.. I know this because we had to take her to the Vet Friday because of a nasty ear infection. She's now on two different antibiotics and an ear medicine as well. (As opposed to just the one regular antibiotic she'd been on.) we are anxiously awaiting her growing so that the surgery can happen soon. 

As for this picture? She and Son are best pals and they play together every day. He's holding her in this picture so I could share how darn cute she is with y'all. 

Anyway, that's it. I hope all are well and happy. Blessings, B.

P.S. It just occurred to me that while folks on Facebook know what's going on I've neglected to share news here. I apologize. Mira was scheduled for her cleft palate surgery earlier this month and we were so excited. Anxious, but excited. We dropped her off that morning and they called that afternoon and said they couldn't perform the surgery. After sedating her they were taking a closer look at her cleft palate (a good thing) and noted that her big issue is with her soft palate (another good thing, or so we've been told), but that her throat was just too tiny for any of their tubes (a not so good thing). We have to wait on the surgery until she grows more- they're thinking when she's about six months old. Which is funny because that's what I wanted to do all along, but then she became seriously ill and events took off from there. However, don't fret. She's receiving excellent vet care, we adore her and am taking good care of her and we love her so much. She WILL have the surgery that y'all have made possible, we just have to have her grow a bit more before it can happen. So! Think growing and healthy thoughts for our girl, please. 

We need help! Updated!

Our little Mira is not doing well. I should have posted before now, but I've spent all my time taking care of her and haven't had much left over for anything else besides also taking care of my family. I'll admit to also being depressed. She was doing well, but has another sinus infection as well as an ear infection. The ear infection seems to be healing, but the sinus infection is taking its toll. We switched her antibiotic and that hasn't helped. She is so tired. She sleeps most of the time, though I make her eat and am still giving her meds. I called the vet today to see if we could try yet another antibiotic and was told that there is nothing else they can do at this point and that only surgery would help. We were trying to save up for it, but our fridge decided to die and had to be repaired and then our AC died as well. It's, frankly, disheartening. We are reeling over everything and yet want nothing more than to help Mira get better. For her to be better. Despite her small size, this tiny girl has curled into our hearts nd we don't want to imagine our lives without her. So, today after crying and crying I gave up. Y pride and asked for and accepted help from a friend who has set up a fundraising page for Mira's surgery. The sooner the better, because if she becomes too weak there won't be any hope. And right now we are clinging to the hope that all this works out. So, I'd you can help- thank you. If you can't that's okay, too. Please keep dear Mira in your thoughts and prayers.

Updated to add: thank you so much. We have reached our goal for the first surgery for Mira. Now to get her scheduled for surgery! Our vets nearest schedule date is October 15th. We will be appealing that date as it is vital we get Mira her surgery as soon as possible. If that means another vet- so be it. Praying if that's the case the costs remain the same. We will keep y'all updated as soon as our vet returns to office next Tuesday. (Another vet who doesn't do surgery is covering his office for the next few days.) Again, thank you for your kindness.

Um, not to sound greedy, but prayers or good wishes concerning our AC getting the compressor part in before next week would be greatly appreciated. It's hot and humid here and with no air we are sweltering. The fridge is now repaired, so that's good news!

http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/mira-s-cleft-palate-surgery/83105

Blessings, B.

Scary news!

I took Mira to the vet yesterday. Her energy level was good and the infection was slowly disappearing. But, she was making odd noises when trying to eat. And it seemed to get worse, not better. It interfered with her ability to eat and since she's underweight for her age I wanted an answer. So, off to the vet we went. Everything looked good and then I showed the Vet the video I made of her eating. He started to say that she may have polyps on her throat, but then when trying to look for those -opening her mouth wide- he discovered that Amira has a cleft palate. How it was missed up until now I have no idea, but it explains her nasal issues. The Vet wants to do surgery, pardon me, multiple surgeries (between 2 and 4) at a not small expense. He wants to do them NOW, while she's still young and her bones are still malleable. However! It's very, very risky due to her age, size and weight. If we wait until she's older the surgeries will be safer, but there may be more of them and more expense. We're between a rock and a hard place. We are loathe to risk her life and trying to find the money right now is almost impossible. But, if we wait it will be a more difficult surgery(s) for her, but safer for her life. And those that are reading this and thinking we should have her put down- go away. Every spark of life deserves a chance to thrive when it is as loved as we love Mira. In the meantime we are compiling a list of question to ask the Vet. He suggested getting her switched to dry food as soon as possible. She's being stubborn about that and doesn't want to eat the dry food. It's worrying me. I don't want any progress we've made in her gaining weight. (She's still under a pound.) So, I'm being bad and offering the dry food, when she walks away I give in and give her the canned food. It puts her at a higher risk for another sinus infection, putting us at another impasse. So! Prayers and good thoughts for Amira please!? 

Blessings! 

Aptly named!

Little Mira has been sick yet again. I wish her immune system was working better, but considering she was found at three weeks old, I guess it's as good as its going to get for now. This time she had a bacterial infection. It caused her bottom jaw and mouth, throat and lymph nodes to swell. It was very scary and dangerous for a few days for her. We weren't sure she was going to make it. I cried, prayed and tried to make her possible final moments comfortable and loving. I took her outside (wrapped up) to watch a sun rise ( family joke is that she's solar powered) and to see some flowers. I gently hugged her, petted her and told her we loved her. I thank God that somehow she has pulled through. She still hasn't made it to a pound yet, but she's getting there and we are hopeful she'll make it by e end of the month. Her breathing is better and while there are still some issues she's dealing with (eating isn't easy for her right now due to some coughing whenever she tries to eat) we are Blessed to have her in our family. Best wishes to y'all, B. 

A good excuse!

I have a very good excuse for not posting. I've been working very hard- we're talking blood sweat and tears - to keep Mira surviving. She became ill last week and so began our quest to find out what was wrong and how to make her better. Two vet visits last week and two more this week and we're still not sure what has made her sick. However, we are hopeful she'll fully recover. She's on two antibiotics, though today is the last day for one of those, been given anti-nausea meds and has had to put up with me waking her up every hour and a half to force fluids down her throat. We've added food to that recently so that she can put back on the weight she couldn't afford to lose in the first place. We'd just managed to get her to a little under half a pound when all this started. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but yesterday she started wanting to eat and played with my necklace. She's still so very quiet, unlike the trilling and chirping we had become used to before all this began.  I took this picture yesterday morning. Big brother Buddy is very patient and loving toward her and kept watch while they looked at the birds in the backyard. Anyway, just wanted to update y'all on what's been going on. I am constantly sleepy and exhausted, but she is so very worth it. Blessings, B.

My Punk!

This is Mira, short for Miracle. And to be honest I've already given her a nickname- Punk. I call her that sometimes because her fur is a character all it's own. It's very fluffy and reminds me of cotton candy. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture. I'll post a better one later. Mira came into our lives one Wednesday three weeks ago. She was tiny, less than a quarter of a pound. Daughters boyfriend found her on a busy bridge overlooking a river. We think someone tried to throw her out of a vehicle. She survived somehow- hence her name. She also came with a surprise we didn't realize at first, we were too concerned with trying to get her to eat, she's polydactyl! Our little girl has thumbs! Suffice to say there have been many trials with her, her lack of appetite at first among them. She was so small, barely three weeks, and felt like holding a baby bird. She was treated for congestion, then ear mites and today we had to take her to the vet again because she became very ill with tummy issues and vomiting. For someone so small that can be devastating very quickly. We had already been to the vet once today, one of our older kitties developed an inner ear infection and has/hadto be hospitalized. Hopefully, she'll be home with us soon. As for Mira, let me just say I adore our Vet. They normally close at 5:30, but we were there rather late and not one bad look or word. Oh, and they all think Mira is adorable. *g* They gave her some meds and sent us home with some sulfide medication to kill anything nasty that may be hiding in her intestinal tract. Please keep your fingers crossed, think good things, or if you don't mind please say a prayer for both our furry family members. 

I know I promised to post here more, and I've really meant to, but Mira has taken up so much of my time these past few weeks. She was only sleeping two hours at a time and the eating so I'm still not caught up on my sleep and she will need to be watched closely for the time being, so the lack of sleep thing continues. 

All that said, please forgive me for being so absent here lately. I won't promise this time, but will truly try to post more. I wish a beautiful week for y'all. Goodnight and Blessings, B. 

P.S. I've gotten hooked on a new to me author, Craig Johnson. He writes the Walt Longmire series that the A&E show is based upon. I'm on book seven now and have no desire to stop!